Noida: Give farmers flats or shops to end agitations, DM tells govt

In a letter to the chief secretary, Uttar Pradesh, district magistrate (DM) BN Singh suggested that the three authorities — in Noida, Greater Noida and Yamuna Expressway areas — that are to recover around Rs25,000 crore in land dues from builders should take unsold flats or shops from them and give the same to eligible farmers.

The DM said that if farmers are not pacified, they will protest when the government starts land acquisition for the proposed Jewar international airport.(Sunil Ghosh/HT File)

The Gautam Budh Nagar district magistrate has suggested to the state chief secretary that the industrial authorities in the region, which are facing a financial crisis, should give flats or shops to farmers who have failed to get adequate compensation for their agricultural land acquired for urbanisation.

In a letter to the chief secretary, Uttar Pradesh, district magistrate (DM) BN Singh suggested that the three authorities — in Noida, Greater Noida and Yamuna Expressway areas — that are to recover around Rs25,000 crore in land dues from builders should take unsold flats or shops from them and give the same to eligible farmers.

The DM said that if farmers are not pacified, they will protest when the government starts land acquisition for the proposed Jewar international airport.

The three authorities have failed to provide residential plots, not solved land leaseback issues and are yet to distribute hiked land compensation to farmers.

“Our suggestion is that if the builders are unable to clear their respective land dues due to fund crunch, they can offer flats or shops, which are yet to be sold. The Uttar Pradesh government can bring in a uniform policy on this issue and bring about an innovative solution to end the deadlock,” Singh said.

The Noida authority is yet to recover around Rs15,000 crore from 94 builders, the Greater Noida authority is yet to recover around Rs6,000 crore from 129 builders and the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority is yet to recover nearly Rs4,000 crore from 28 builders, officials said.

The Noida, Greater Noida and Yamuna Expressway authorities have acquired 13,000 hectares, 40,000 hectares and 12,000 hectares of agricultural land from farmers. Builders and realtors, 2007 onwards, bought land after paying 10% of the total land cost. They were supposed to pay remaining 90% in instalments over eight years but have failed to do so and is thereby, affecting the sector and also troubling thousands of homebuyers and investors.

“The three authorities are yet to give plots or money to thousands of farmers. The authorities are unable to give plots due to the paucity of suitable land and monetary compensation due to the shortage of funds. Builders are also facing the same problem of cash crunch due to a slowdown in the realty sector. Farmers’ agitations are affecting development work in the district and also affecting real estate projects as they sometimes protest at the project sites. Accepting flats or shops from builders and offering the same to farmers can solve pending issues and give a much-needed boost to development,” Singh said.